Breakdance Competitions Are Adding Fingerbreaking to Their Lineup

This is not a bad-cop interrogation method, but rather a newly recognized form of dance

Fingerbreaking is not a bad-cop interrogation method. It is form of dance, in which dancers use their hands to perform breakdancing moves that usually require the entire body. And it is gaining in legitimacy—it's newly recognized at breakdancing competitions as a separate skill.

The gear may be cool, but it is the movement that counts. Fingers can approximate everything from the moonwalk—the classic backward foot slide made famous by Michael Jackson—to windmills, the full-circle spins with the upper body on the floor and legs in the air.

If you're having trouble imagining what that looks like, Chen has some YouTube videos to help:

And now, non-fingerbased breakdancing competitions are welcoming the handsy form onto their stage. Red Bull CB One, a 10-year-old breakdancing contest, has added a fingerbreaking segment this year. But don't quit your day job, Chen tells Catton. "I don't know other professionals," she said, and still makes most of her money doing video editing. There's no money in the fingerbreak handstand.

Tags

About Rose Eveleth

Rose Eveleth is a writer for Smart News and a producer/designer/ science writer/ animator based in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, Story Collider, TED-Ed and OnEarth.

Editor's Picks: New Releases

The Smithsonian Institution has entered affiliate agreements with the companies listed in our holiday shop, and earns a fee for every purchase made from following any link from these gift guide pages and making a purchase on the affiliate site. This fee helps fund Smithsonian’s activities.

Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It [Marc Goodman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. NEW YORK TIMES and WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER One of the world's leading authorities on global security

The Smithsonian is a repository of America's history, achievements, aspirations, and identity. It holds the artifacts of great leaders, and those of ordinary Americans. It houses scientific specimens and technological wonders. It is home to art, music, films, writings-a vast treasure trove of objects of extraordinary beauty and outstanding design.